Russian Businessman Survives Attempted Assassination in Moscow

The victim of the shooting in Moscow was hospitalized with shoulder and abdominal injuries.

The general director of a large Russian company has escaped with his life after being shot multiple times by a suspected hit man in southwest Moscow, news reports said Thursday.

The 40-year-old victim, who heads tube-rolling company Komplekrostroi-Group, was fired upon as he got out of his car on Ulitsa Butlerova, the Interfax news agency cited law enforcement sources as saying.

When the victim tried to escape and take shelter in the entrance to a nearby building, the gunman followed him and fired off several more shots before fleeing the scene, the source added in the report.

The victim, who was not identified by name in the report, was hospitalized with shoulder and abdominal injuries, the report said, adding that one of the bullets had damaged his kidney.

A criminal case has been opened into attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, a spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee was cited as saying by RIA Novosti, noting that the victim had been shot a total of eight times.